Pacific Grove agrees to take the lead scoping out Agha water project

The Pacific Grove City Council voted to join the dance Wednesday on a proposed water desalination plant in Moss Landing to provide an alternative to California American Water's proposed Peninsula water project.

The council, on a 5-2 vote, approved a preliminary agreement with developer Nader Agha's Moss Landing Commercial Park LLC for the city to take the initial lead on scoping out the "People's Water Project" on industrial land Agha owns.

Council members took pains to say the preliminary contract — called a "formation agreement" — doesn't bind Pacific Grove to go ahead with the estimated $129 million project.

"What we are doing is preserving our right ... that there is an alternative to the Cal Am proposal," said Councilman Ken Cuneo.

Under the deal, Agha will provide money to the city to hire independent experts to weigh the project. But the agreement doesn't commit the city to move ahead with the project should it not be what supporters trumpet it to be: a far cheaper solution to the Peninsula's long water-project search.

"I do not want to get off the train prematurely," Cuneo said.

Councilman Dan Miller, in an impassioned speech defending the move, said too little has been done in the past 17 years to deliver a new water project for the city not to take the action.

As to critics who say the agreement could pose trouble for Pacific Grove — in the form of costly litigation or putting the city over its head in water issues — Miller said the agreement "has been vetted to death."

"For the most part, it was written by the city of Pacific Grove," he said.

Councilman Robert Huitt, who dissented along with Councilman Bill Kampe, said the city should look toward regional partnerships — with the Peninsula mayors' regional water authority or the Monterey Peninsula Water Management District — to deal with the water crisis.

"I do not want to get on this train because I don't like where it is going," Huitt said.

Councilman Rudy Fischer called the preliminary contract "a remarkable agreement" that will allow the Moss Landing proposal to move ahead with other proposals.

"It's like a date where you agree to see how things go, but you don't agree to go all the way," he said.

Public testimony was divided. Supporters praised the city for moving ahead, while critics said the city should wait for more Peninsula partners.

On two other issues, the City Council veered away from a go-it-alone stance with regards to the mayors' Peninsula Regional Water Authority and the Fort Ord Reuse Authority.

The council voted 7-0 to stay in the water authority, with an estimated cost to the city this year of $45,000, and voted 5-1 to maintain representation on the FORA board, a $15,000 cost this year.

Miller cast the dissenting vote on FORA membership, saying the $15,000 could be better spent on other city needs.

Kampe, the council's FORA representative who recused himself from voting, said the recreational and environmental work done by the reuse agency is important to "a lot of our citizens."

The main argument to keep the city in the water authority was to maintain a unified front among Peninsula cities before the state Public Utilities Commission.

"We are going to have to be part of the party," Kampe said.

Huitt said the decision to be a partner with Agha on his Moss Landing proposal would make it difficult for Pacific Grove to stay a full and objective partner in the Peninsula water authority.